resistance
/ɹɪˈzɪstəns/noun
resistance is spelled R-E-S-I-S-T-A-N-C-E: 10 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 35 times per million words in written English, the 2,725th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, resistance means “The act of resisting, or the capacity to resist” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of resistance is resistances.
How many letters and syllables are in resistance?
| Letters | 10: R-E-S-I-S-T-A-N-C-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 35 times per million words; the 2,725th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is resistance?
Resistance appears 35 times per million words in written English, the 2,725th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce resistance?
- /ɹɪˈzɪstəns/
Resistance has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-resistance.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of resistance
- resistances plural
- resistence rare
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does resistance mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The act of resisting, or the capacity to resist.
widespread resistance to the new urban development plans
- 2
A force that tends to oppose motion.
- 3
Electrical resistance.
- 4
datedA resistor.
In our study of simple electrical circuits, we have considered a single source of E.M.F. for each individual circuit but we have learned that any number of resistances may be connected in parallel […]
- 5
An underground organisation engaged in a struggle for liberation from forceful occupation; a resistance movement.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate resistance?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of resistance: res.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Resistance in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense act of resisting:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | résistance |
| German | Widerstand |
| Portuguese | resistência |
| Spanish | resistencia, oposición |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does resistance come from?
From earlier resistence, from Middle English resistence, from Old French resistence, from Latin resistentia. Morphologically resist + -ance.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).